


she is a queen. her soul is royalty

by allforconniebonacieux



Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types, Terminator: Dark Fate
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Day 2: Knight and Queen, Drace Week 2020, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27120509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allforconniebonacieux/pseuds/allforconniebonacieux
Summary: Drace Week 2020Day 2: Knight and Queen AUQueen Daniella was unable to accompany her trusted knight Sir Grace Harper on a tour of the kingdom. Many months have passed since they have seen each other and she waits each day for news of her success in assisting the troubles at the borders.
Relationships: Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Comments: 6
Kudos: 47
Collections: Drace Week 2020





	she is a queen. her soul is royalty

**Author's Note:**

> I had this one kind of planned to be a very different, much longer fic, and this one was kind of rushed over the past two days, mostly last night and today, but while I'm not 100% with it (If I sent this to a uni workshop I would be killed for my comma use lol), I am very happy with it. Sometime you just gotta write what you write and see how it turns out.
> 
> if any of it doesn't make sense- particularly the geography and/or timings- just assume the author is an idiot. Because I am.

Eying the latest reports on her desk, Queen Daniella moved across to the window, not wanting to deal with them just yet. It would be prudent to read them, yes, but she knew the majority of them would read the same as the ones from the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that, and so on. 

They had been receiving reports of increased bandit activity on the northern border, so she had sent more troops to help assist the residents of that area. Then there had been flooding to the south, so more troops were sent to aid the people in rebuilding and restructuring. She made sure to send several more architects and clerks than usual, all well respected for their work so far, mainly in the cities, so as to ensure a safer, more secure rebuilding process with as little damage to the surrounding area as possible. It was more time consuming and, as some of her more conservative advisors warned, more expensive, than just sending the regular soldiers to build a water break and rebuild the main damaged areas, but she knew it was worth it. 

Her people would have roofs over their heads and could sleep knowing they were safe from flooding. They could face each day knowing that if disaster struck then the crown would not leave them to suffer. 

Looking out into the courtyard below, she did wish the reports would contain the information she wanted to see. Aside from a few brief letters attached to the official documents, she had received no personal correspondence from the one person she wanted to hear from. 

Sir Harper. 

Her Grace.

The commander of the more specialised unit known as The Augments, she had been rising through the ranks steadily since joining the court some twelve years before, and was well on her way to replacing the current general, Carl, much sooner than perhaps Grace herself realised, given Carl’s indications to Dani of an impending retirement. She had been gone for several months, leading a tour of the outer villages, checking the situations with the bandits and flooding were being handled appropriately in the field, while also utilising the opportunity for a more personal check in with the communities to the east and west respectively. That was one part of leadership that drew them together, the willingness, the eagerness, to throw themselves in and see the people first hand, not just sit in the comfort of a castle and read about their struggles.

Annoyingly, Dani was meant to have joined the tour for a portion of the campaign, not enjoying the presence of her favourite soldier so far from her side for the many months the tour was planned to last. After much back and forth in the days leading up to Grace’s departure, they had settled on Dani overseeing some of the flooding repairs, viewing several of the western villages, and then, and this point of contention had been the source of their days of disagreement, she would journey to the north border and give a speech to the soldiers there and the locals displaced by the fighting. Grace had pointed out the increased risk of her going so far from the capital for so long, Dani had countered that she could hardly breathe for the protection detail Grace personally assigned. Grace suggested she skip the northern border, have a herald read a letter she penned, Dani had given her a look that stopped that suggestion there and then.   
However a sickness that caught her in the week before her departure made her unsuitable for travel. She was left in the capital while her favoured adviser, the forever grouchy Sarah, went ahead to get first hand knowledge to relay to her on her return. Sarah had been reluctant to leave her, and Dani knew that was a sign of how close she had been to death. Sarah was stuck to her air of heartlessness, but for her to want to break orders and stay with Dani, show motherly tenderness to her at her sickbed? Dani knew there hadn’t been many people in her life that Sarah would do that for. 

It was Sarah who had clenched her jaw but held her tongue at Dani’s request that Grace not be informed of how ill she was, only that she would be rescheduling her tour for the next spring. If Grace was led to believe that Dani was listening to her safety concerns, but was too stubborn to actually admit it, well, Sarah would only be doing the work of her queen.

She had recovered, slowly, and was well enough she once more had full control of the dull bureaucracy that filled most of her days, wresting control from the conservative councillors who had been oh so eager to step in the second it was heard she was unwell. But her recovery had come several weeks after she had meant to join the tour, and the changing seasons meant attempting to join the last portion of her planned travel would be unnecessarily stressful on the retinue that would accompany her. Not to mention, she would be leaving the day to day running in the hands of the councillors, still fresh from their latest taste of power. She couldn’t risk one of them deciding he liked it.

A noise from the corridor disturbed her from her thoughts, and she turned from the window. She didn’t hear the guard stationed outside. She eyed the door, moving to stand a little behind her desk. A dagger was easily accessible from the top drawer, and would perhaps give time to knock over the incredibly out-of-place suit of armour deemed decorative by someone many years past that Dani had always just been too lazy to ask to have removed. The resulting crash would hopefully bring anyone in the vicinity running, even if the guards directly outside were for some reason incapicitated. She braced herself, listening. It sounded like footsteps, heavy ones that scuffed along the floor. They were talking too, no, whispering. And...was that a...bark?

Whoever it was surprised her by knocking. A polite intruder then. She opened the drawer and gripped the handle of the dagger.

‘Come in,’ she called, her voice as even and sweet as ever. Her knuckles were white around the blade.

Slowly the door swung open and a tall figure ducked its head as it entered. It was cloaked, black material covering them head to toe. The silhouette was unnerving, bulging out to one side. Despite that, it lifted an arm and pulled back its hood and Dani got ready to fling the knife if necessary.

Instead, it fell from her grasp, clattering back into the drawer. She didn’t register the noise. She was too focused on the shaggy blonde head smiling awkwardly in front of her. 

‘Uh, hello, your majesty,’ Grace lifted one arm in a half wave, before returning it immediately to the strange lump protruding from her side.

‘Don’t call me that,’ Dani whispered, not quite done taking in the sight before her. This was impossible, Grace was meant to be overseeing the defense of the villages in the areas targeted by bandits.

‘Apologies, my Dani. I hope you forgive me.’ Grace’s smile was becoming more comfortable, more cheeky, as she knocked the door shut with the heel of her boot.

‘Already forgotten.’ Dani didn’t take her eyes off of her. ‘I thought you were meant to be gone another three months.’

‘So did I.’ Grace stopped closer to the desk. ‘But then something funny happened.’

‘Oh? Is this your official debriefing?’ Dani stepped around the desk, coming closer, but not quite as close as she wanted.

‘Hmm, if you like.’ After seeing Dani’s nod she continued. ‘ So we received word that her majesty had recovered from her illness but would not be joining us. Morale dropped a fair bit, I won’t lie. And then we were informed that an advisor would be joining us on behalf of her majesty, to deliver a message to the troops from her majesty’s hand.’

Dani bit back a smile, already sensing where this was going.

‘The men were excited, eager to hear what wisdom you could impart. So imagine their surprise when Lady Sarah rides up, miles ahead of her entourage by the way, the woman is a security risk like you wouldn’t believe, riding into known bandit territory on her own,’ Grace was animated, the friendly animosity between her and Sarah well known in court. ‘She rides up, pulls a letter from her coat. The men are silent. We’re waiting. She opens her mouth- and tells everyone to ‘fuck shit up’.’

There is a small amount of distaste in Grace’s mouth as she says that, along with a decent amount of respect, Dani can tell. That was the sort of statement the taller woman often felt like making if she weren’t in polite company. Dani knew all too well how Grace could talk in decidedly impolite company.’

‘And then she says she was paraphrasing you, and could they be quick, she’d like to be home for the Winter Festivities. Hands me the paper and it’s just her request for access to the liquor stores and a tent.’

Dani shakes a little with repressed laughter, picturing the scene perfectly. Sarah was not one to mince words, it was true. 

‘And what did the men think of my abbreviated message?’ She teases.

Grace grins back. Her smile lights her whole face, a sight Dani feels honoured to see as much as she had done.

‘You know Sarah. She has a...special touch with the troops. We managed to capture a few of the bandits and found out where their camp was, what their leadership was like. Ended up wrangling the leader, a slimy kind of guy named Gabe. Honestly it only took about a week once Sarah showed up to get things under control. After that we made a start on organising the items we found, redistributing the stolen wealth, making sure the villagers feel secure now.’

That all sounded perfectly standard with what Dani expected from that kind of endeavour. One thing niggled in Dani’s brain however.

‘And why haven’t I been receiving reports on that? Every letter I’ve received since Sarah left has said you were monitoring the situation.’

Grace flushed a bit, and moved her shoulder as if she were going to run a hand through her hair, before remembering whatever it was underneath her cloak and stopping. The end result was a delightfully endearing shrug.

‘That might have been my idea. For security reasons. In case our contact lines were breached.’

Dani raised a brow. The flush deepened and Grace continued, mumbling the next part of her explanation.

‘I also wanted to surprise you.’

‘Oh, what was that?’ Dani grinned, as the taller woman cleared her throat and spoke with more of her usual confidence.

‘I wanted to surprise you. I missed you and I didn’t want to have to wait another month for everything to wrap up. I left my lieutenants in charge of Sarah, and if they’ve survived then she should be finalising the reparations to the villages where we couldn’t recover their belongings or who had suffered injuries and death at the hands of the bandits.’

That sobered Dani slightly from the giddy joy at the lengths Grace had gone to, to see her again. There hadn’t been many fatalities, but there had been some, according to her reports. She knew Sarah would be keeping an eye on the people she saw to be grieving. Grace saw the downturn in her mood, and her face softened at Dani’s open heart. It was an honour to serve a queen who felt the loss of people she had never known to exist. 

‘I rode ahead of the rest of my squad. They’ll be clearing the way for the majority of the troops as they start to make their way back. The first group should be leaving the border by the end of next week. I rode straight through almost, only stopped when I had to.’

‘But you came alone? What would Sarah say?’

Grace snorted at the teasing scandal in Dani’s tone.

‘It was her idea. She said she was sick of me moping, and you’d need me to stop you from strangling the councillors.’ At Dani’s laugh she grinned again. 

‘Is that so?’

‘Mm. And, I got you a present.’ Grace beamed, and Dani watched as she pulled the lump out of her cloak. As it was brought out of the dark, warm safety where it had been for the past few minutes it wriggled and whined.

Grace had the privilege of seeing the exact moment Dani’s heart melted.

‘A puppy?’ Dani didn’t wait for an answer, stepping forward immediately to take the small creature from the knight. It was young, and a quick check revealed it was in fact a he. He was scrawny and definitely still very young, but his eyes were open. His fur was short but soft, and he had the looks of a Mastiff to him, though Dani would bet he was a mutt.

‘I saw him at the side of the road a few days ago. I asked at the next village if he belonged to anyone, or if they would take care of him, but no luck. So I thought I’d see if you wanted a companion? He’s not grown, and I’m not entirely sure what sort of temperament he’ll have, but he’s been the sweetest thing in my saddle bag and well, he’s already got you wrapped around his finger.’ Grace rambled.

Dani looked up from where she was running a hand along his belly, dancing it up to his snout where he licked her fingers.’

‘I have no clue what you mean, Sir Harper.’

‘My apologies.’ They stared at each other for a long few moments, before the spell was broken by a whine from the dog in Dani’s arms.

‘Ohh, poor baby. Are you hungry? Hmm?’ The queen cooed to the bundle in her arms. Grace removed the cloak from her shoulders, and Dani took it gratefully when offered, wrapping her precious cargo in it. ‘I think we should drop him by the kitchens and ask Cook for some food for him.’

‘I’ll arrange for a bed to be made for him in your room, if you like?’

‘Thank you. Ask if they can sort the bed for tomorrow. I want him checked over tonight, make sure he hasn’t caught a chill from travelling.’ 

Grace nodded at this, years of training and friendship making it easy to not question her queen’s judgement. Dani looked up at her, a recognisable glint her eyes that Grace knew meant trouble. 

‘After we organise these things, make sure to report to my room, Sir Harper. We need to finish your debrief.’ Dani had the pleasure of seeing Grace swallow, hard. She bit her lip, seeing the reaction repeat, before taking pity on her lover. ‘Before we go however, we’ve been in the same room for five minutes, Grace, and I’ve yet to have a hug.’

Grace grinned, and leant down, wrapping the shorter woman in a warm, secure hug, careful not to squish the puppy in Dani’s arms. The hug was only a glimmer of what their true reunion would be, but Dani felt the months of separation dissipate as she melted into the contact. She was not afraid to admit to taking a deep breath of the smell of Grace, dusty and sweaty from the road but still her Grace. She felt the blonde’s chin rest on her head, moving to rub her nose along her forehead, the motion soothing as they enjoyed the embrace. 

After another whine from the dog, they separated, though remained standing close. Dani shifted the bundle in her arms to a more secure hold and made to the door, nodding in thanks as Grace went to open it.

‘I might go visit the baths before I join you in your chambers,’ Grace said as they walked down the corridor, nodding to the guards posted there that she was overseeing Dani at that moment. They nodded back and neither made a move to follow them. They knew the queen’s protective detail wasn’t a necessary job with Grace back. She took the safety of the queen very seriously.

‘No, come straight to me.’

‘But I stink from the road. When I said I came straight here your majesty, I wasn’t kidding.’ Grace protested.

‘I have a bath in my room, if you’re so desperate for one. But if you go to the baths, who will protect me while I bathe in there?’ Dani heard Grace’s footsteps stop, ever so slightly before catching up and matching Dani’s pace.

‘If that’s what you wish.’

‘It is.’

They came to the foyer, a junction of the castle where they would part, Dani to the kitchens and Grace to the courtyard, where she would find the dog-handler to collect and check the unnamed pup a bit later on.

‘If I may make a suggestion, your majesty?’

Dani nodded.

‘Perhaps wash your hands once you have dropped your charge off. It takes a while to fill your bath, and I have a feeling my debrief meeting will be...intense.’ Grace winked at Dani, scratched the soft ear that was poking out of the cloak, before striding off to complete her task, her golden hair almost glowing in the mid-morning sun streaming in from the tall windows high on the wall.

Dani watched her go, a swell of affection, amongst other things, filling her chest. She had missed her terribly. Gently squeezing the animal in her arms, she kissed the same exposed ear.

‘Your mama is in for a lot of trouble, little one. I’m not sure having you in my room will be good for you. I’m afriad you might see some very inappropriate things.’ 

The puppy squeaked in reply and Dani smothered a smile in another kiss, before hurrying to the stairs to the kitchen. She’d have to ask Cook for a tray to be brought up for her lunch. And probably her dinner. 

She had a long day ahead of her.


End file.
